A Pretty Bathroom, Eventually.

The bathroom has become the first finished room of the house.

All we needed was something for a funny spot on the wall, in between the shower and the doorway. I contemplated going the French "Le Bain" (or la, I never know!) route, but it just didn't really fit with how the room had already evolved (without a fight). We'd gone the textured, natural look and it was soothing and clean, and pretty, without being "girly". I'd already made this Tissue box cover so it was only natural to continue in that vain. Another trip to Kaisercraft where I spent my $20 loyalty gift card on random scrap pads and some very specific papers. The Basecoat range was perfect for my project. It features great colours and texture up the wazoo. Once I'd chosen my papers and bought my canvas, I was ready to go.

I started by mixing some white paint with PVA glue and painted the edges of my canvas. I don't really know what I was hoping to achieve by doing this, maybe a bit of texture, or the opposite? Anyhoo, it didn't make too much difference, so we were all good. Then it was a case of working out how exactly I wanted to use my papers.
 I was really expanding on what I did in Tadpole's room, but I didn't think squares were going to cut it, plus my canvas was 51x51cm, too tricky to do even squares. I considered some kooky patterns, but in the end, I went with my usual style; Simple. Stripes it was. After a few practice line ups I was ready to get gluing.

Never glue things in a hurry.

 You end up making a mistake (gluing whole sheets down instead of cutting one) and having to pull it all off while it's still kinda wet. You end up with a lumpy mess on your canvas that needs to be sanded back. Of course you'll have to wait days to do this because you have a Tadpole.

Anyhoo. We start again, and this time, even though I was pretty fast at it ( but in a fun I can't wait to finish this kinda way) I did a pretty good job.

But something was missing. It kinda faded into the wall a bit.

It needed something more. So, I painted the edge of the canvas (again) with brown paint, carefully matching the browns already in the papers. The PVA from my first attempt actually made the texture of the canvas stand out more, and considering this thing was all about texture, I rolled with it.

 Now see that bit on the far left? That's what happens when you stop paying attention and cut the paper the wrong size. I still need to go back and glue it down better, but you can't tell once it's on the wall.

See how the bottom is curved? That's what happens when you buy your canvas from Dollar King. Whatever. Mr Frog turned it up the other way and you can't tell.

This little section of the bathroom was the inspiration for the canvas.

The finished bathroom, before Mt Frog flipped the canvas, and complete with his P.j's hanging on the door. He's not impressed that I left them there to take the photo.

Pffft. I'm keeping it real.

This post wasn't sponsored by Kaisercraft. But Kaisercraft.... Call me.

MC

And Woman Created Stuff

I came home from my shopping expedition yesterday buzzed. I always get a rush when I find great supplies for specific projects ( managed to talk myself out of all the cool things I don't have a purpose for!), and they're really cheap. Now don't get me wrong... there are lots of things I'd like to buy that are not cheap. Beautiful scrapbooking papers, gorgeous fabrics, and all the fabulous costume jewellery around these days. The problem is; I can't afford it. I've been unemployed for almost three weeks now, and although I've enjoyed my creative projects and working on the business end of my hobby, there is always that little nagging voice asking me when I'm going to get a job. Sad. Meanwhile, I do have a feeling that even if I was made of money you'd still find me rifling through the discount bins. I just ADORE a bargain.

Today I put those cheap supplies to good use and have just about finished my sisters xmas present, have gotten started on mums- but am missing a tool, and am all pumped to get started on making xmas cards.( Just remind me to send some... I have a tendency to write them out, stamp them, and then leave them on the coffee table... until February.)

Next on my To-Do list is to find some stores that might like to stock my Cocktail bags... Any thoughts?

Anyone...?

MC